The Charles County Sheriffs Office announced today that they raised $8,135 for Special Olympics Maryland during the annual Law Enforcement Torch Run that was held on June 8, 2006.

Members of the community and Special Olympics athletes joined Sheriffs Office employees for the annual event, which includes routes for both runners and walkers. Participants raise money by selling and purchasing Torch Run T-shirts and pledging to participate in the event. At 9 a.m. on June 8, runners, walkers and Special Olympics supporters congregated at the Charles County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge on Rosewick Road in La Plata. Participants then began their eight-mile run or two-and-a-half mile walk with a police escort through the Town of La Plata making stops at the Charles County Sheriffs Office Headquarters, the Charles County Government Building, the Charles County Chamber of Commerce and Matula Elementary School.

The runners carried the Flame of Hope as part of a 600-mile, week-long relay that passes the Flame of Hope across Maryland. The relays converged Friday, June 9, at Towson University for the lighting of the cauldron to signify the start of the Opening Ceremony for the 2006 Summer Olympic Games.

During the final leg of the Maryland Law Enforcement Torch Run, a parade of 200 Torch Run participants and Special Olympics athletes led by 26 police motorcycles, 14 police cars and 12 antique police cars passed through downtown Towson to the University. The Flame of Hope was passed to several law enforcement representatives, who guarded it carefully as it reached Sgt. Craig Stillwell, supervisor of one of the Charles County Sheriffs Offices community policing units. Sgt. Stillwell, with an escort from the police cars and motorcycles, escorted the Flame of Hope to a Special Olympics athlete, who relayed it to other athletes until it reach the final Torch bearer, who lit the cauldron.

I am very grateful to everyone who participated in and supported this years Torch Run, said Charles County Sheriff Frederick E. Davis. As the torch passed through Charles County, it demonstrated our great community spirit and our wholehearted support for the courageous and inspiring athletes of Special Olympics.